Hours after acquiring Tavon Austin from the Rams, the Cowboys are set to send one of their slot weapons and return options to California.
The Raiders will trade for Ryan Switzer, Ian Rapoport and Jane Slater of NFL.com report (Twitter link). Switzer came to the Cowboys as a 2017 fourth-round pick. The deal will bring back 2016 Raiders second-round pick Jihad Ward, a defensive lineman that has struggled as a pro.
Switzer served as Dallas’ primary return man, working in both return capacities as a rookie. He’ll now join a Raiders team that not only added a former Cowboy return man this offseason in Dwayne Harris but one that’s retooling its non-Amari Cooper contingent of the wideouts’ room.
This is Oakland’s second wide receiver acquisition via trade this weekend. The Raiders added Martavis Bryant as well. The primary connector here between Switzer and the Raiders is new Oakland special teams coordinator Rich Bisaccia, who coached the North Carolina product with the Cowboys last season.
The Raiders have been trying to unload incumbent slot player Seth Roberts, but as of now he remains on the team. They’ve added Jordy Nelson as well and dumped Michael Crabtree, so the Silver and Black’s receiving corps will look completely different in 2018.
An Illinois product, Ward profiled as a project player coming to Oakland in 2016. The Raiders have a new defensive coordinator and have added a slew of defensive line options in this draft — most notably Arden Key and Maurice Hurst Jr. — so Ward will be departing. He graded as the worst full-time interior defender as a rookie, per Pro Football Focus, and didn’t see much time last season.
Why tho
Drafted a returner from Boise St.
Who won’t make the team. Next.
I don’t see much sense in this one, “a line man that has struggle” hmmmm, thought it was for picks.
When are you going to put up the trade tracker chronicling all the trades made during the draft?
They may have been the worst written article I’ve read on this site. Will trade for? C’mon, you are better than that.
“THEY may have been…”
C’mon.
Rated as the “worst full-time interior defender as a rookie” that should tell you something about this ex Raider. Some folks blame injuries, I think it is his attitude. The name “Jihad” doesn’t help his case. Don’t know who engineered this trade, but you can be sure it wasn’t McClay.